The Intrepid-DX Group has announced the winners of its first annual Youth “Dream Rig” Essay Contest. “We received over 60 essays from young amateurs from all over the world,” said Intrepid-DX Group President Paul Ewing, N6PSE. “The essays were unique in thought and very well-articulated. Extra points were given for proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Most of the essays gave unique perspe...

An auxiliary cable that helps to support a metal platform above the Arecibo Observatory radio telescope’s reflector dish in Puerto Rico snapped in the early morning hours of August 10, causing a 100-foot gash in the reflector dish. Operations at the world-famous observatory, managed by the University of Central Florida (UCF) have been halted until repairs can be made. When the 3-inch cable fell...

As another step in ARRL’s increased focus on strengthening its emergency communications capabilities and long-standing working relationships with federal and state agencies and private emergency response organizations, ARRL has hired Paul Z. Gilbert, KE5ZW, of Cedar Park, Texas, as its first Director of Emergency Management.

Gilbert brings more than 30 years of experience in public service in b...

The Grid and Prefix Award Program (GAPA) has announced the establishment of a comprehensive Digital Awards Program. Awards are available for radio amateurs and shortwave listeners (SWLs) for confirmed grids and prefixes worked or heard using digital modes.

“This is not an award based on the station you are using, but rather the operating prowess of the operator,” explained Alan Sorum, WL7CG.

Cont...

The Newington, Connecticut, US Post Office, which serves ARRL Headquarters, is without power, so ARRL is receiving little or no mail, affecting the receipt of amateur radio exam session paperwork as well as other mail and parcels. The outage is a result from damage due to Tropical Storm Isaias. In addition, the FCC electronic batch filing system was down for about 24 hours and did not process a...

Listen to the new episode of ARRL Audio News on your iOS or Android podcast app, or online at https://www.blubrry.com/arrlaudionews/. Audio News is also retransmitted on a number of FM repeaters. Click here and then scroll down to see the list.

Many colleges and universities are preparing incoming students for fall classes, amid a complex landscape of re-entry plans due to COVID-19. Schools are pursuing a variety of instructional modalities, including live and asynchronous online classes, reduced-size or no in-person classes, and hybrid classes with some mix of it all. At schools where in-person attendance is allowed, the emphasis is...

Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Sunspot Cycle 25 is under way. We saw one new spot on July 28 and two new ones on August 2 and 3. The daily sunspot numbers were 22 and 23 on the dates of their appearance, and the total sunspot area grew on Wednesday to 160 millionths of the visible solar disc. The total sunspot area was smaller the next day, August 6, but the daily sunspot number increased fr...

Despite mid-summer conditions, at least seven US listeners, most of them radio amateurs, were able to copy the 17.2-kHz signal from the SAQ Alexanderson Alternator at the World Heritage Grimeton Radio Station in Sweden. The July 5 transmission from the vintage electro-mechanical transmitter commemorated the annual Alexanderson Day. All told, more than 600 reception reports [report updated on 20...

Initially scheduled for July, the Northeast HamXposition, host of the 2020 ARRL New England Division Convention, was moved back to November because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the in-person event is off until next summer, although some activities will take place online this year. Renamed before the 2019 show, the Northeast HamXposition has succeeded the long-running annual Boxboro hamfest...